AVR.

By the time Liz and I moved to Devon we had experienced all sorts of running challenges. We had completed the London Marathon, together, The New York marathon, together and loads of other half marathons 10kms and adventure races. Liz occasionally got on the podium, her major achievement was to win a 10 km race outright in Massachusetts which was staged and organised by a group whose name will never leave me. Mothers Against Drunk Driving or MADD for short!!

Anyway on our first weekend in East Devon we went for a drive and ended up in Seaton. A race was obviously going on as roads were closed and the seafront was adorned with finishing banners and unusually a fire tender was standing by. We looked around and asked questions and shortly we had an outline of what was going on. The ‘Grizzly’ is an extreme cross country event staged annually over 20 plus miles, although the distance varies according to the course. It is as tough as any race of its sort in the world. Indeed people come from all over the globe to experience it. Each year the race will be given a theme and a name and a superbly colourful finisher tee shirt will be created. Many people count their collection of these trophies as the pinnacle of thei running careers. The race takes on ultra steep climbs and scrambles. It features a section through muddy bogs where ropes are needed to make headway. Teams of hefty Rugby players man this element of the race to rescue runners who have become ‘stuck’. At the end of the bogs a box of running shoes is waiting for those who have had their own footwear pulled off by the cloying mud. There is a shrine where runners can pause to remember a departed love one and where ribbons of remembrance are attached. There are multiple bands on the course and perhaps every fifty yards or so runners will have the chance to read a motivational message hung from a tree or on a gate on white boards. ‘Pain is temporary achievement is for ever’. ‘All good things are born out of pain’. ‘What ever you do in life never ever ever give in’ So they go on. The main point of the thing is the back drop of some of the best countryside and sea scapes available on the planet, -no exaggeration. The race is in all honesty as special an experience as any athlete or runner can ever imagine.

The crowds are huge as all the local communities come out to shout their encouragement. bands play, a lone piper hails the runners as they mount the high point of the course and for many years a didgeree doo player was in place to grunt his celebration of the event.

All of these comments do not begin to do the event justice and on that morning we were to see why because as we stood on the shingle beach at Seaton a murmur grew into cheers as the first runner came into sight. He was covered from head to foot in mud. His face creased with the agony of effort but as he came closer his blazing eyes signalled that feeling of achievement that only the top runners know. He crossed the finishing line exhausted and a remarkable sight followed. The firemen stepped forward with their hoses and washed the man down. Out of the mud a supreme athlete appeared to celebrate his victory. We stayed at the finish for the next 3 hours and watched as the remaining elite athletes finished. Then came the weekend warriors representing their various clubs. Finally the waves of ‘fun runners’ ( a singularly inappropriate title in my opinion) crossed the line. Some limping many utterly exhausted but all wearing the face of achievement. Over the years we both became involved with AVR , AXE Valley Runners, and even joined the committee and race organising group. We both completed the race a number of times and when we moved on to triathlons we prided ourselves in staging the best feed station in the world somewhere on its route.

When we joined AVR a few weeks after this first discovery of all thing Grizzly we were welcomed by the then Chairman Paul Morgan. A back ground in elite cycling he was and is a delight of a man. Exuding positivity he would greet and encourage all. He did not have a negative bone in his body he moved mountains when the requirement for sponsors or charity donations was called for. The club staged a number of other events including a 10 km race for local charities, a half marathon and almost as famous as the Grizzly, The Midsummer Dream. Now here was another race with a difference. Staged on or close to midsummer day this race of around 22 miles was circular in nature. The course was marked by tiny orange dots on trees which made for many to loose their way. Alcohol stops were optional and many runners actually carried tankards around their waists on their belts, The race direction was also ‘optional’ such that the start line involved half the 1000 or so runners facing each other. On the gun the first few minutes would involve a chaotic “Morris Dance’ as each made their way though the opposite crowd. Beer barrels were ‘hidden’ in woods to supplement those who were enjoying the pub stops. Perhaps the greatest feature of the race was the ‘feed station’ half way round the course where a full cream tea was served. Ridiculous but wonderful. I am not sure a winner was ever declared but many took pride in ‘making a day of it’. Sadly health and safety and indeed intolerant human kind have rendered the staging of many of these events impractical.

Shortly after we joined the club a new chairman took over, Garry Perratt. Gary was and is a superb runner and athlete. Highly intelligent and somewhat ‘alternative’ in the best way. Garry was always trying to push the boundaries of what AVR was capable of and what its members could enjoy. He worked tirelessly to take the Grizzly to new levels he made sure that all events the club staged met the highest standards and in doing so the clubs ‘athletes’ grew in number. Garry himself understood the reason why effort and challenge is such an inspiring and satisfying experience for the human soul. He, in truth, had no interest in commercial possibilities and if he had had his way all races would be free to enter. Over the years I have gathered a huge respect for Garry. As a person he is deep and challenging to engage with, shy some might say, but make the effort to know him and you will gain so much knowledge not only about running but about the condition of the human mind and soul. In time I became Treasurer of AVR and whilst I know I was not the most popular of people I managed to encourage Garry to raise the cost of entry of The Grizzly which was to have important consequences. In all honesty Garry would have kept the entry fee at a nominal rate as even though the race entry sells out each year in minutes his belief is that the best athletic experiences are free and involve the contemplation of ones self and the nature that one runs through. On one hand I totally agree with him but on the other hand the Grizzly now coasts around £25 to enter and many queue to sponsor the event as TV cameras from around the world frequently appear to record the event. The entry fee and sponsorship means that every year AVR are able to support local charities and organisations and over the past number of years huge sums have been given to ensure charities survive, can be started, and those who need support can be helped. There is something wonderful in my opinion about very fit people enjoying a spectacular experience giving back to the less fortunate. I certainly don’t want to take credit for changing the financial approach of the Grizzly as I had many supporters, as indeed I had many doubts about the wisdom of the change but on balance I do think it was good thing.

The characters in AVR the we met and ran with were too many to mention. A man called Dave Kelf who was champion of good ideas and fun. Dave Mutter a local man of Beer and respectful non respecter of new ideas. Jinxie Jenkins a jockey who could not stop smiling. Eleanor Wood a female athlete with incredible endurance.Many superb athletes too. However one man stands out in my memory as being really special. Tom Scriven, it was he who played the didgeree doo. He was Irish with a huge personality. Everybody knew him and loved to be recognised by him. He was very funny delivery quips in his Irish accent and he had a bad temper that would flare if someone acted out of line. He loved the ‘alternative’. He became a close friend and we would often meditate together. He would demonstrate running using the Alexander technique and some times he would get the whole club to run ‘barefoot’ so we could ‘listen’ to our running!

Above all Tom loved a drink and whilst many did not know this he was perhaps what I would call a serious enthusiast of Guinness which he refereed to as ‘Vitamin G’. The Midsummer Dream was his favoured race as by the end his various running techniques could be used to ensure his advanced inebriation did not hamper his progress-he literally ‘rolled’ along the road.

I think he was around 74 years if age when he turned up at my house, as he often did for a natter. Tom did not ‘do’ age and he believed that human kind is capable of things that most people would deny. Especially in an athletic sense. He scoffed at people who sat in front of the TV bemoaning their lot. As his body aged rather than giving in he sought alternatives to make sure he could continue taking on challenge. Anyway he announced to me he had entered a race somewhere in Germany. The challenge was to run a many marathons in seven days as you could around a running track! The runners would sleep between their efforts in their own tent in the middle of the track and each runner would have a ‘second’ whose job would be to make sure supplies were topped up. Tom invited me to be his second almost as if he was conferring great honour on me. ‘Scriven’ I responded ‘what on earth makes you think I would come to Germany and stand by the side of a track watching you plodding round for seven days, sod off’. He looked disappointed told me I was a wanker but resolved to find someone else who would do a ‘better job than me’. I don’t know who that was but a few weeks later Tom came round to my home to ‘tell the tale’. I think he completed 12 marathons in the week I am not sure but it does not matter. Of course he became locally famous for his achievement and was all over local papers and TV news channels. This amazing 74 year old filled many column inches wondering at his achievement. Any way as I suspected the final tally of marathons was not the whole tale as Tom described his personal recipe for conquering this Everest. After completing a marathon Tom would repair to his tent and quaff a few cans of Guinness as his Primus stove heated some food. Copious amounts of red wine would wash the grub dome which would ensure he fell into a deep sleep (coma) for a couple of hours,. Now here is the trick, when he awoke and started the next marathon he was still heavily under the influence and as result the first 10 miles or so would pass in a haze. there would be a few miles of struggle before the enticement of fresh supplies of Vitamin G were to encourage him onward. He confessed to not having counted his ‘units’ for the week, what I know is they were substantial but few people would have appreciated the complexity of this man and his wonderful way of being. On his eightieth birthday Garry Perratt organised a run for Tom around a Rugby pitch. I think it was 30 miles or so but it does not matter. Friends came from all over the area to accompany Tom on his birthday run for a lap or two and many chose to stop off at the Refreshment tent that was duly set up at the corner of the pitch serving vitamin G

Tom was I am afraid to say somewhat accident prone. he was also wonderfully stubborn so if he got lost say as he often did, he would refuse to admit it and make assertions to all who would listen as to the ‘right way to go”. One day at the start of a Grizzly race Tom arrived late at the start to loud cheers as many held this man in high regard. For some reason he stood on an elevated kerb to wave to the many runners lined up and offer them a few words of encouragement, Scriven style. As he did so he lost his balance fell over and dislocated his shoulder. He was furious as it meant he could not take part in the race. In later years Tom became ill with cancer but he fought the thing with typical determination, resolution and on occasion disdain. I think it was 2016 when I got a telephone call from Garry Perratt telling me that the feed station we were manning on the Grizzly course was to have a special feature. Tom Scriven would be there to play his ‘didge’. The sighting of the feed station was way up in the woods and difficult to reach. I was so looking forward to seeing Tom but as the day wore on it became clear he was a ‘no show’. I rang him in the evening and he reluctantly admitted to ‘getting lost’. It would have been so good to have Tom playing on that day because as men go he was amongst the finest I have ever met. Sad to say his own race was nearly run and I never saw him again.

AVR has gone from strength to strength. Garry still has some involvement but not full-time now. When we started the Triathlon Club Garry was a huge supporter and even completed a Half Ironman race himself although the shock of the huge entry fee was very troubling to him given the roads and lakes we used were all ‘free’. He has inspired many young athletes and I am sure that the current ‘wunderkind’ of GB distance running Jake Smith a member of AVR would tip his cap to Garry and all those other wonderful characters that make up AVR.

I have written this phrase in many press reports and indeed articles I have written. The human spirit thrives on athletic challenge. The greater the challenge the greater the sense of achievement generated. To all at AVR,especially Garry Perratt a very special thanks.